Legs were visibly instituted to be breeched, and we have breeches. ''Observe that noses were made to wear spectacles and so we have spectacles. In the very beginning, Voltaire makes fun of the very idea of metaphysics by calling it “metaphysico-theologo-cosmolo-nigology.” He further parodies this by explaining cause and effect as follows: 4 In Candide, the character Pangloss represented Leibniz and his philosophy. He disagreed with the way Leibniz explained all suffering in the world through divine justification. According to Leibniz, the world we live in is the perfect world- “the best of all possible worlds.” 3 This was the idea Voltaire alluded to and made fun of in Candide. He argued that all events occurred because God had meant them to occur as such to maintain a pre-established harmony. He believed that the universe consisted of just God and all other things were immaterial entities, which he called monads. He is known for his contributions in the fields of metaphysics, mathematics, ethics, theology, and more. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a German rationalist philosopher who lived from 1646 to 1716. Candide too expresses this same view in a satirical manner.

He wrote Poeme sur le desastre de Lisbonne in 1756 , which expressed his discontent with the world view of the Optimists. This idea that everything happens for a good reason troubled Voltaire. 2 In particular, after a 1746 earthquake in Peru and a 1755 earthquake in Lisbon, many said that the events had occurred for the best. Voltaire wrote Candide in retaliation to the writings of German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz, who was a proponent of Optimism and suggested that we live in the best of worlds. Even after being released, he continued to make fun of both the church and state. It was in prison that he took on the pen-name Voltaire. He was imprisoned briefly in France for making fun of the government. When he began writing, his witty and satirical style of writing continued to create controversies in France. Since childhood, he had a sharp wit that often brought him into trouble at school. He grew up in the Age of Enlightenment, which was a period in Western history when intellectual movements, centered in France, emphasized reason and individualism over tradition. Voltaire was born in Paris in 1694 into a middle class family. It is the tale of adventure of Candide, whose belief that everything happens for the best is turned upside down as he wanders the world with his numerous companions.Ībout the Author: Voltaire and His Motives Candide (or Optimism) is a satire novel written by the French writer and philosopher Voltaire (pen name of François-Marie Arouet) in 1759.

Candide and optimism